The Time War
by Impossible Miracles
Summary: The Doctor tells Clara of the Time War and what it did to him. She sees his pain and loss for the first time.
1. Chapter 1

**The Time War – 11 + Clara**

"Okay then Clara!" "Where to next?"

The Doctor bounded around the Tardis, spinning in circles, a huge stupid grin plastered across his face. She waited at the top of the stairs, looking defiant but cautious and unsure.

"Oh c'mon, no time for waiting around! We've got whole universes to explore! Worlds of impossibilities, galaxies of untold mysteries and you're just standing there! C'mon!"

He paused, looking puzzled at her reaction.

"Clara, what's wrong?"

She started, as if roused from deep thought.

"Nothings wrong Doctor," she replied.

"I...," she stopped. "I was wondering if we could visit a certain place."

He smiled.

"Already got one chosen out have we? C'mon then, I can show you anything!"

She swallowed hard.

"Gallifrey," she said.

His face fell, he suddenly looked very serious and almost hurt.

"It's just you described it so beautifully and...well I would love to see it," she explained rapidly.

The Doctor retreated to sitting on the steps at the front door of the Tardis. He sighed and held his head in his hands.

"It's gone," he said simply.

Two simple words that seemed to crush him.

He patted the seat next to him and she sat down.

"There was a war Clara." "The Time War." He paused and looked up towards her.

"The Timelords fought the Daleks, a race as old as themselves but bitter and twisted.

He spat out the word 'Dalek' as if it were burning his insides.

"Their leader, Davros, was fierce and the Timelords were outnumbered thousands to one." "We fought, we went in to battle with valour and honour, our head held high, but many died." "We fought and we killed many...I killed."

He closed is eyes. He felt great shame and the weight of his guilt pressing down on him.

"I could see the war was going to be lost, I wasn't what the Old High Senate wanted me to be! Those old, dusty Senators, so stuck in their ways, it was all about tradition and fighting for honour, I was different." "I wanted to see the stars, Clara. You have to understand that."

He looked deep in to her eyes, almost pleading. She nodded in response.

"I ran away. I left them Clara. I took a Tardis and I ran as far as possible" "The war was timelocked and I can never go back. "Now I have to live with what I did, the Timelords are all but extinct and I am the only one left."

He finished and sat very still, looking tired and weary. For the first time Clara saw his age, what guilt and fear had done to him and how terribly lonely he was.

"I'm so sorry," she began.

"I...I didn't know."

He smiled at her kindly.

"You weren't to know" "I live on, I regenerate, its the curse of the Timelords."

"No one deserves loneliness Doctor," she replied, hugging him tightly, "not even a Timelord."


	2. Chapter 2

**The Timewar - Chapter 2 **

When the war began we were trained as soldiers, whole legions of Timelords ready at the Senate's command, ready to fight, ready to kill for Gallifrey. I remember the day the Daleks declared war on us, right across the universe, whole galaxies at war, there was nowhere to hide, it consumed everything. More and more Daleks left Skaro and entered our star system, they were in battle mode, bloodthirsty. We fought with valour and honour, we defended our land, our traditions, our people. But we were hugely outnumbered.

You see, before the war, the Timelords were a peaceful race if a bit old-fashioned. We ruled over many worlds, but it was not to last. The worst thing about a Dalek, I would say, would be the deep hatred they each contain. They are a clone race, a race bred in the blood of battle. They have no emotions save one, loathing. One Dalek can be defeated, their downfalls are many, believe it or not. Basic Daleks cannot think outside the box, they have no ingenuity, they are simply a fusion of hatred and a lethal instinct for survival bound in a metal shell.

The war destroyed everything. I remember, near the end, we were outnumbered by millions to only a few hundred. The Daleks had stormed the Citadel, it burned like a beacon across the galaxy, a never-ending light poured from the tallest spire signalling the most hopeless and remorseful kind of defeat. Timelords don't fall easily but when they do...all is lost. All across the universe, every man, woman and child, every family, every species, under every sun turned out their lights. Every corner of creation was dark as they mourned the loss of the Timelords.


End file.
